A minister of the Methodist Church of Great Britain, I joined the staff of Edgehill in 2004 following nine years as Principal of the ecumenical West of England Ministerial Training Course. Prior to that, my ministerial experience included thirteen years pastoral ministry in north London and three years on the staff of Sia’atoutai Theological College in the South Pacific islands of Tonga. I have been the Chair of the Faith and Order Committee of the British Methodist Church and keep a close interest in the wider world Church, especially in Oceania. I am a member of the Society for the Study of Theology.

My passions are for a learning Church, for a theologically engaged ministry and for excellence in worship. I teach undergraduate and masters courses in the areas of doctrine, worship and systematic theology. My research interests deal with the nature of Christian doctrine, ecumenical theology and ecclesiology. I have begun a project to relate the Wesleyan tradition of theology to the Catholic understanding of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Currently I supervise post-graduate students across a wide range of theological topics relating to doctrine, ecumenism and theological reflection.

I share the Principal’s manse with my wife Diane (also a Methodist minister) and our elderly Labrador, Megan. Our two adult daughters, Elizabeth and Miriam, are back in England. When not teaching theology or running the college, I take time for choral singing, cycling, gardening and walking.

Training

Ministerial formation: The Queen’s College Birmingham, 1974-77.

BA Theology, Birmingham, 1977

MA Ecumenical Theology, Irish School of Ecumenics, Dublin, 1979

PhD Birmingham (‘Faithfulness in History: the Doctrinal Theology of Jurgen Moltmann and Edward Schillebeeckx’) 1992

Recent Publications

Handing Over Christ: Rediscovering the Gift of Christian Doctrine, Epworth. Press, 2009

‘How Great the Debt we Owe: Anselm’s Cur Deus Homo and contemporary culture’, Epworth Review (January 2009).

‘Theological Education and the Search for Peace and Reconciliation in Ireland: the Expereince of the Edgehill College Reconciliation Programme’ in Building Communities of Reconciliation (Vol II), [nanumsa, 2012], ed. Richard Noake and Pauline Kollontai.

‘Do we really need a doctrine of the atonement?’ in Atonement as Gift: Re-Imagining the Cross for the Church and the World [Paternoster Press, 2014] , ed. Katie Heffelfinger and Patrick McGlinchey

John is husband to Ruth and dad to Hannah and Daniel. He has been a Minister of the Methodist Church in Ireland since 1998 and has served in local church settings in Co. Armagh and Co Down before becoming Methodist Chaplain to Queen’s University Belfast in 2009. In July 2014 he took up the post of Director of Ministry for the Methodist Church in Ireland, based at Edgehill College.

He studied Modern History at Queen’s and then did a further three years Theology. Following ordination he took an MA in Evangelism Studies from the University of Sheffield. He was a participant in the first Arrow Leadership programme in Ireland, and now helps run that organisation.

He is deeply interested in how the church needs to be shaped or reshaped to fulfil its calling in today’s world to share the gospel, and the type of leadership that is required to do this.

He is also a technology lover, Mac geek, guitar player, Man Utd fan, book collector, music listener, geochache finder and loves the idea of getting out more to run and keep fit!

Janet has been teaching New Testament studies to Edgehill students since 2003. Narrative critical approaches to the Gospel of John has been her particular area of research and she gained her PhD at Queen’s University Belfast. After secondary education at Methodist College, Janet studied Ancient and Modern History at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University, before teaching History at a school in London. In 1993 she became the Children’s Work Co-ordinator for the Methodist Church in Ireland. Following theological studies and ministerial training at Edgehill, and ministry in Newry, Janet was appointed to the post of Director of Studies in Edgehill Theological College in 2009.

Janet is passionate about helping people to grow in their understanding of the Biblical text. Currently she is co-chair of the Johannine Literature Seminar of the British New Testament Society. As well as all things historical, Janet is enthusiastic about music. She is married to John and they have two children, Rebekah and Peter.